An Offer or a Response?

Congratulations on getting the attention of the head coach for a college program! And, welcome aboard!

This is a strong indication of interest. But,no offer has been extended...what was offered? He indicated that he may come and watch you play in person or have an assistant come and watch you play in person.

An offer would include an indication of scholarship dollars willing to be extended to you, and would not be a formal offer until it was on paper for you to sign.

floridafan


Tigerfan is talking about a Division III program--there are no scholarships nor is there a NLI to sign.

Are athletes not offered money couched as academic scholarships? I was under the impression that scholarship money was extended to potential students and that the ability to be a productive student both in the classroom and on the field and have the possibility to be rewarded by means of a scholarship offer. I did not mention a LOI. But a formal offer I would believe would eventually involve a discussion of scholarship money offered. DIII's offer scholarships, do they not? I understand that Athletic monies are not a part of DIII recruiting. But money does exist. TR, forgive me if I appear to be argumentative, it is not my intention, nor am I privy to the ins and outs of DIII recruiting, as I am sure you have much greater knowledge in this area than I.

Many D3 programs offer academic monies, but they have specific criteria that baseball prospects may or may not meet. During my son's junior year in high school, we visited at length with a D3 head coach who informed us that our son's academics were not high enough to warrant academic aid at his school. He further explained that specific academic departments usually did not offer schollies to incoming freshmen; instead, they offer money to students who have already proved their "mettle" in the classroom.

I know of a couple of current D3 players who were heavily recruited by their coaches, but were not promised any aid. They applied for aid after they committed to the baseball program and thankfully were awarded the needed amounts, but the answer came several months after they agreed to play baseball for the school.

Tigerfan, it sounds as if the coach is definitely interested in you, but you need to ask him some questions:

1. Coach, when you said we would like you to come play for us, were you offering me a guaranteed roster spot? If so, is that a guarantee for the first year only or for all four years?

2. I am happy to provide you with my spring schedule. Are you wanting to hold off on an offer until you have seen me actually play?

3. How many players do you have on your roster this year? How many players do you anticipate having on your roster next year? How many players do you currently have/are you recruiting at my position?

4. What type of role do you envision for me on the team?

5. Would you be able to offer assistance in helping me get an academic or financial-need scholarship?

TRhit probably has many additional helpful suggestions to help you assess this coach's interest. Best wishes!

tiger,
Any answer depends to some extent on the DIII involved.
If it is a higher end academic school, the coach really cannot make you an offer.
Any offer/the only offer to be made will come from the admissions office and will be based on your qualifications.
Depending on the school, the coach may have some input in the process, a good deal of input, or very little to no input.
DIII recruiting is a longer term process with the coach wanting you to apply, waiting through the acceptance process and, during that time, each of you assessing your ability to compete and play and contribute. Until there is formal admission by the admissions personnel, discussions about attendance and playing are just that...discussions of the extent of mutual interest and opportunity.
To address the question posed by floridafan, it would be highly unusual for the coach to be able to assess financial aid to be offered and, from the strict enforcement of DIII rules at the NCAA level, an offer of financial aid coming through the baseball coach would be quite suspect. Whether the coach can have input into any aid package to be offered will vary again from school to school.
But any DIII coach who makes a player an "offer" to come to that school, and has it packaged with a financial package, would be walking on very tenuous line with the NCAA rules, and spirit for DIII competition.

quote:

I know of a couple of current D3 players who were heavily recruited by their coaches, but were not promised any aid. They applied for aid after they committed to the baseball program and thankfully were awarded the needed amounts, but the answer came several months after they agreed to play baseball for the school.

We know of several who also went through the same scenario/process.

I was going to suggest some of the questions below, but since Infield08 already did,...I'll just reiterate it.

Dont be afraid to ask the coach the hard questions. The more answers you get, the easier your decision will be. Don't ever assume or hope for the right answer. Get the facts!

Congratulations on attracting college interest!

quote:

Tigerfan, it sounds as if the coach is definitely interested in you, but you need to ask him some questions:

1. Coach, when you said we would like you to come play for us, were you offering me a guaranteed roster spot? If so, is that a guarantee for the first year only or for all four years?

2. I am happy to provide you with my spring schedule. Are you wanting to hold off on an offer until you have seen me actually play?

3. How many players do you have on your roster this year? How many players do you anticipate having on your roster next year? How many players do you currently have/are you recruiting at my position?

4. What type of role do you envision for me on the team?

5. Would you be able to offer assistance in helping me get an academic or financial-need scholarship?

floridafan

The question posed initially is with regard to papers to sign, which I take to be a NLI--

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to post---most of you who dispense "info" seem to have all the answers